AFACT v iiNet case could tarnish music industry image

While the dinosaurs that run the music industry have dug their own tar pit they are not entirely in the wrong. I would like to see the whole copyright thing tightened up. I would like to see what happens to our own youth when their access to unlimited free content is restricted. Would some of them turn into content producers. Would we shift the measure of value back from passive collectors where we measure in quantity to the creators where we measure in quality.

Of course our young-uns would have to face down other barriers – like the high cost of bandwidth within Australia (to prop up different dinosaurs) and expensive proprietary software (yet more dinosaurs). However these barriers are not insurmountable and once we bite the bullet and do the digital equivalent of sending our kids outside to play (after reminding them never to accept candy from corporate strangers) we may enjoy a very positive result. We might even briefly rediscover Australian culture (before the ATO comes in and forces our best and brightest offshore).

I will be the first to say I download everything that appeals to me. Why? Because media outlets in this country rarely have anything I want when I want it. A clear example is foxtel. Recently they started offering access to their channels via internet. I thought that’s great, but when I attempted to sign up I found it was online for customers with existing services. To me that defeats the whole purpose. I cannot get Fox Tel in the normal sence because the land lord will not pay for the infrastructure in my building. I was willing to pay for the service up to $100 a month via internet. So in the mean time till someone does offer services via the internet I’ll continue to download Tv shows and Movies. There is one exception, ABC I-view, clearly outstanding work by them in bringing us this service. Moving along to games; I’m 40 and can’t see why there is not an R rated system here. So every time the government RC’s a game I end up downloading it as well. Price does have a factor. Any game over $70 will not be purchased. Do not sell my wares most people dont. The bullshit that cops spurt out about downloading being linked to terrorists and organised crime is a joke. Do I share for free, yes I do with close friends and family. So for every down loader there would be 5 others that enjoy the experience from it. In primary and high schools nearly every student knows how to download. They are the hungry beast. The entertainment industry is greedy and lazy. Btw, even if IInet lose the case the end user will still win. VPN and anomalous proxys will just have to be employed and just so everyone know thats how to by pass the great firewall of Australia if it actually becomes reality

We do have an illegal download problem here in Australia, but the fault lies squarely at the feet of the TV companies who refuse to give us the TV shows that the rest of the world has access to from day 1, also to blame are the politicians who block the R18 classification. Games that are refused classification because of content are downloaded to see the product as it was truly intended. The media distribution companies who like to add $30 or $40 to a title just for the extra profit, there is no reason why we have to pay more than people in Europe or America.

The world has turned it's back on the dinosaurs, and they rail at their own extinction.

Heroes season 4 premieres on the free to air 7two on 4/11/09, problem is the channel isn't broadcast outside of the capital cities. Would I be prosecuted for downloading this show after being left in the cold by 7?

As long as you develop the work and the rights of the artists in the music industry, your opinion is developed doubly so.

I suggest the only people who dismiss the rights of the artists are those who have never had an original or creative though in their lives!

Pay the artists!

"Pay the struggling artists" sounds great until you see the figures showing that the content corporations get nearly all the income and only pass a pittance to the artists who did all the work.

The dinosaurs still seem not to have noticed that we live in a global world (tautology intentional). They tried to ram their zone system for CDs down our necks so they could manipulate pricing and content release in different regions. And they now expect us to take them seriously.

Am I the only one that knows it is the FILM studios suing iiNet not the record companies...It even mentions this int he article, so wtf does that have to do witht he record companies image?

Music for free on P2P == promotion, is a dangerous idea. Granted, big record labels are greedy corporations. But the problem is that not all artists are signed to big record labels.

For new/unsigned bands in particular, gigs don't make any money. After they pay the venue, sound tech, transport etc. there isn't much left over (and often there is a loss) and so really they are an opportunity to promote themselves and sell CDs - not the other way around. If you want to encourage independent artists, buy their CDs. If it becomes profitable enough for them to earn a living, it will encourage them to devote more of their time to their music.

Otherwise, my concern is that only the most market-driven pop will be commercially viable, and the local/independent music scene will wither out.

Snakes on a plane?!
Tighter

Snakes on a plane?!

Tighter copyright laws do not mean more creativity. Sorry to say Bruce but restrictions on anything do exactly that "restrict" funny thing isn't it? Sorry about using some sarcasm but really did you think a restriction would "increase" anything? Restricting alcohol restricts the number of drunk people (in the short term, in the long term it created the MAFIA so yeah... history teaches us that almost all restrictions are wonderful lessons of EXACTLY what not to do but that yes they do very much restrict rather than increase anything good).

So yes that said, lots more copyright restrictions stopping people from viewing content would mean... thats right! people wouldnt see as much movies or listen to as much music as they do now. Meaning they wouldn't sit in their room for as long making mix tapes of their favourite music or editing movies to become future musicians or hollywood directors. So yeah restricting things - restricts things! Its not that hard to understand really. What I mean to say though is even if they restrict it, illegally taping radio to cassette or TV to VHS never happened because that was against the law I mean clearly you've never ever seen or heard of somebody use a VCR to record a show to watch later. That was illegal here for years did you know that? if you knew that would it have stopped you? Fact is radio is still around despite TV existing, the internet hasnt wiped libraries and book stores off the planet. Hollywood isnt going to disappear overnight because somebody downloaded some movies. Everyone knows though they need to look at eliminating physical media and offering cheap on demand services. (Sony leads the way in this example right idea with the PSP go just OVERPRICED THE THING it costs as much as a PS3!)

The current legal campaign large companies are launching against people sharing stuff is in my own personal opinion a little silly. It is overall ineffective and highly unnecessary as their overall profits keep going up and up over the years. Though I can understand if the music industry crashes flat on its face i'll go into that in a bit. My reason for such comments about their recent legal activities are because I fail to see their reasoning in fighting for tougher laws. I could be wrong here but "tighten the law, stop them downloading anything." is a path of self destruction if you think about what happens if they win. If that happened to be safe from any random acc-, sorry i meant "accusations based on data produced from investigations using secret spying methods by a random third party which has been proven false and often fabricated and admittedly inaccurate in a court of law" not random accusations those are much better than whatever they are throwing around in order to sue people- kids would get off their computers and go play outside and not care about DVD's or CD's anymore. Meaning the entertainment industry would be in the true sense of the word 'dinosaurs' -some scant remains of bones that even if you can piece it together again are really hard to identify. The only difference being Christians wouldn't deny they ever existed.

So I'm saying some things about the current situation all negative without being very constructive. Well what needs to happen is rather than blame everybody and sue left and right they should identify their weaknesses and flaws and work on those instead of trying to make new laws and copyright protections which have all proven completely ineffective.

Where hollywood and the music industry are messing up:

First clear and known to all reason is simple failure to adapt. They did not evolve to e-stores like itunes years ago when they should have (about the time real media format for example first appeared making compression good enough for bandwidth issues to be resolved was when they were supposed to get off their chairs and do something.)

Where the music industry really bends itself over and begs you to jab it with sharp objects is that modern games have this brand new technology called multichannel surround sound. No correction that's a really really old technology. Actually it just seems new because the music industry are still using the word stereo a lot and "CD" CD's are literally from the 1970's. How come all music released is not in multichannel DVD audio now that everybody has DVD players? (if you are thinking about car stereos being the reason, its not. Quite a number of people have over the years already adapted and evolved into having DVD/MP3 CD players in their cars so CD's could have been phased out long ago. *begs the question doesnt it?*)
So why didnt the CD die? its certainly past its due date..

answer: The people producing cut corners by being cheap. It costs a little bit more time and money for mastering and pressing DVD audio so we end up with CD's for everyting, yes 16bit 44khz anybody could have made and recorded a CD with the average computer for the last 15 years or so. So they skimp on costs themselves for decades yet they have the nerve to sue the pants off financially unstable students who try to save money by purchasing their video games and DVD's then just download some extra songs and movies they might have liked but cant afford as they've already blown their budget. They all still fill the seats at concerts and the money spent on entertainment goes up every year which is what is often forgotten.

The biggest punch you in the face its so obvious problem for the hollywood and the music industry in sales is: video games. Finally with the PS3 video games and movies go hand in hand thanks to blu-ray and online content. Games would generally have about 10-20 hours or so gameplay but usually can be alot more fun so people are spending more money on games for entertainment. Depending on the game months or years of entertainment can be had from a single purchase. I myself played oblivion for about two years. Plus almost all games contain both movies and music, often times the movies and music are very good! by comparison really great next to whats on the radio or TV a lot of the time.

Look at the amount of money in the video games industry today compared to what it was in the 80's.. Now compare hollywood/music industries profits today with what they were in the 80's. They are doing better than ever before just they are not accounting for entertainment being found elsewhere is all. PC games, wii, 360, ps3, ds and psp's combined sales figures and game sales are jaw dropping. Hollywood and musicians are now getting the idea with guitar hero and other music and movie themed games, but sadly alot of movies made into games tend to be completely boring as they are too much about the movie and not enough about gameplay. They need to offer more interactive content and longer lasting value, well thats true for everything on the market nowadays. So yeah all the really great innovative things they've tried so far like sticking with CD's since the 70's and increasing pricings and copy protections. Those were really really well thought out and executed strategies that worked spectacularly for... hahahaha sorry no, I just cant go on. Yeah they've done absolutely nothing to fix the problem.

I spend most of my money on games but also have a very impressive collection of DVDs and blu-rays but as a result music loses out so I just leave the radio on rather than buy any music. For me personally I avoid buying music because why buy a Stereo CD with maybe 30 mins to an hour of music when you can buy a game or a blu-ray movie instead? all of which would sound much nicer on my 7.2 surround speakers. I am not alone in this line of thinking lately though 7.2 surround is a bit much you get the point. This is how it is for the music industry now so lets hope they release alot more concerts on blu-ray with proper HD audio or at least give you a reason to purchase anything they put on shelves.

Overall the general whinging and carrying on dragging people through court and wasting money and time only to give themselves a bad image, simultaneously stealing attention away from real criminals who do much much nastier things than share some music or movies with their friends is basically self induced.-I got that all out in one go- It seems to be very much a content related issue. Call me crazy but there are radio stations that play music from the 80s and people actually listen to it still. Same with TV you can watch re-runs of re-runs of macGuyver and MASH! cant they put something better on? They would if they had something better. Take most of the songs on the radio at the moment and things on TV, they are easily forgotten in just a few months. Though some classics like southpark and the simpsons will linger on for a while I am sure. I am not saying that everything broadcast here is rubbish, but how much of it would still be played in 30 years time? HONESTLY? Can you imagine 30 years of south park? The jokes would be no longer relevant (I seriously hope so anyway). This is a good sign that there are problems with current offerings contentwise I would say. When compared to the content of three decades ago at least says alot about their current quality doesnt it? They know this of course and claim its a lack of creativity on our part or something but no, they have the say over what gets released and what doesn't after all they release it themselves. Which is why anyone who talks of a lack of creativity is probably somehow related to MPAA/RIAA because for everyone else its OBVIOUS that if isnt good they shouldnt publish it as it would cause massive profit losses for themselves OH wait arent they currently publishing crap and blaming file sharers for them not getting all the money they expected themselves to? Now Bruce, I am not implying you had sexual relations with any movie/music executives, but it does seem you were saying something about a lack of creativity which is one of the false truths they try to hide behind. Its these media companies selections that we end up seeing, any guy off the street could come up with a heap of cool ideas to make stuff, but get rejected. Why? boring repetitive beats and crude lyrics which excite handful test groups of ten year olds they surveyed are what the whole country needs to see if you ask them. They make movie adaptations without consulting the fans, they make hundreds of songs which appeal to the minority and now they say when nobody buys it that there is a lack of creativity. Bruce believes tighter restrictions will fix this whole problem. I cant agree with you Bruce as I dislike reality TV and all the other crap they've been throwing at me lately. I also think the mafia era was not exactly a positive thing so I am fairly against the idea of restrictions unless you could show us some time in history where tight copyright restrictions have worked.

I mean do we really want MORE reality TV? ANYTHING but that please! we dont need more talk show panels and yet more police dramas. We also dont need more goth/emo/rap songs taking up too much of the radio waves. They can be on radio fine just not so much of the time. The people who enjoy it are small in number but these genres just seem to keep climbing the charts and take up more of the gerenal airwaves and retail shelves then they cry like emo's when they dont sell. Media hunt for stereo type artists and actors who have average written all over them. They sure deliver a lot of content but a lot less winners lately - the stuff aint worth buying most of the time. But people gotta have something new to listen to and watch so they download it, usually from other countries instead. Now I believe this is where they are failing. If you look at the file sharers choices of music and movies, which things were the most downloaded over the past 5 years and the past decade I believe these may be different to what you might expect and probably isn't what was played the most. Simple observations would take them a very long way. I think they should use the file sharing trends to see real world global demand for different types of content then market accordingly rather than re-release a bunch of junk thats all very much alike. We know there are market trends but since when did trends become a rule of exclusivity? I'd rather go see a wiggles concert than a lot of their recent generic Americanised product. Personally I have grown more interested in japanese programming lately as nothings caught my eye here of late.

I know this has been a very long rant, but I feel hollywood really isnt listening to what consumers are demanding at all. They release the next generation format blu-ray then go about releasing their back catalogs in the most backwards way possible. How is it that Newline Cinema and Warner Brothers see fit to release 'snakes on a plane' before christmas and push lord of the rings trilogy back till after christmas? Then they will likely complain that blu-ray uptake is slow and that their movies arent selling well, shout piracy and sue more kids. Whats their excuse for being such complete tools? What? Maybe its not finished yet? Its already been delayed heaps, its called prioritizing they should look up that word and learn its meaning. Are they afraid it wont sell well because another movie company is selling a different movie this year? So they think snakes on a plane would sell better instead? I would really like to swear at them in multiple languages at this point but refrain from doing so as its not their fault we all see it but they cant. Sometimes some people are oblivious to them being stupid, pointing it out would only hurt their feelings. Instead we must somehow get the message across to them they are wrong. I am personally outraged though at their obvious blame throwing over holes they dug themselves. You might say I am just unhappy I cant buy one of my favourite movies on blu-ray... YES thats my very argument. I want to buy it, but they wont let me. Here is consumer demand and now here is them blatantly ignoring it and shoveling snakes on a plane at us instead its REVOLTING! To see LOTR in HD I'd have to download a HDTV capture of it from the internet. I have it on DVD though so I've been holding out, but filesharers are obviously going to download that rather than buy 'snakes on a plane' I can tell you that for sure.

In closing I would like to see them get their heads out of courtrooms and lawyers offices (see that I said offices not orifices, I know what you were thinking!) and into taking some action to increase their sales since it bothers them so much (though I dont know why I could never complain about the amounts they earn which only ever seem to increase despite their sob stories). They might actually release something we want to see! Snakes on a plane!??? What are they thinking? Really? I saw that at the cinema's and I could really understand if all file sharers were simply trying to recover the cost of a ticket wasted on seeing that movie. Believe me that movie cost you a lot more than just the ticket price. I kind of liked a few of S. L. J's other films, but sorry that one was just bad. Really leaves you feeling you want your money back and they want us to buy that instead of lord of the rings trilogy on blu-ray as a gift for people you care for this xmas?! There's the whole problem right there! I think a judge should order them to get out of court and do something about the holes they dug themselves before they even think of coming back and give in to consumer demand before we stop asking altogether.

***Only those of you that are a fan of the movie Snakes on a plane read on*** you must be thrilled it will be on sale by christmas on blu-ray. Amazon.com shows nov. 29th release. People will like whatever they want to, so despite my disappointment I am supportive of you. My arguments were that I had hoped you would not mind waiting a little longer for its release for the benefit of the vast majority of others and some guy who writes really really long rants on the internet. You may say I am selfish and yes you would be right, but think of it in terms of christmas and giving. Hopefully you would have bought LOTR trilogy on blu-ray as a gift for others who no doubt enjoy it and not buy a movie that for the most part only you would enjoy. Sales wise its unlikely people would choose snakes on a plane as a gift to somebody (as you probably had been keeping your liking of this movie a secret understandably due to the outrage of those around you who witnessed it). I had very high hopes on receiving LOTR trilogy BD's in gift form as there is much more love involved that way, but the situation at hand is; there is now the chance for you to out yourself as a fan of snakes on a plane. This way there is hope that you may receive that which you love in gift form on that special day. Though its early, and your numbers are fewer I wish you all a merry Christmas which involves both snakes and planes in full 1080p. Just I wish that hollywood would have been more giving for the rest of us this christmas.